Talonblaze
by swirls of color
Summary: Conrad finds himself in a maze of mystery and lies after rescuing a princess from a dragon.
1. Once upon a time

Talon Blaze  
  
King Conrad was a tall, slender, handsome king with a shock of black hair that was always in his deep green eyes. His kingdom (which was called Shara by the Great Mountains, but Conrad always thought that the name didn't make sense because the castle itself was on the great mountain, not by it), consisted of a range of mountains with dragons living in them, a forest that was sometimes called enchanted, a small ocean inlet, and miles of grassland plain. Of course, the fact that most of his subjects were not humans had nothing to do with the fact that he was still not married. No way. He had had many offered marriages, but he had rejected all of them. If you were to ask him why, he would simply blink at you and say; "I don't want to get married." There was only one thing wrong with this perfect little kingdom. It was red, monstrous, spurted flame at will, and freely ate just about everything. Talonblaze. He was the worst, most evil, despicable dragon ever to rampage a kingdom and Talonblaze just happened to pick Shara as his personal target. King Conrad's subjects were complaining about this great terror, as if the king could do something about it. In the past month Talonblaze had taken responsibility for ten mills burnt to the ground, a whole herd of cattle devoured, multiple casualties and deaths. The dragon was Conrad's main concern in those days. One afternoon, he was practicing his sword with his younger, nearly identical twin brother Jeffery, when a messenger appeared with, of all things, a message. "For you King Conrad," he said holding out the slightly rusted silver plate and bowing his head. Conrad sheathed his sword, took the letter and dismissed the messenger with a wave of his hand. He rested his elbows on the moss covered wooden table next to the fencing field. "Getting better all the time," he told the sweating Jeff, who grinned tiredly at him and said, "Thanks. I'm going to the lake to cool off. You coming?" "No, thanks, Jeff. I want to see what this letter is about." Conrad said, turning the letter backwards, and then holding it up to the sun as if to see what was inside. Jeff smiled as Conrad headed toward his castle to find out what was in the letter. He walked through the decorated halls of his palace into his favorite throne room hung with colorful, slightly moth-eaten orange and green tapestries: his favorite colors. As Conrad flopped into the cushion-filled, high-backed, jewel-inlaid throne, and shoved the shock of black hair out of his eyes, he slit the red wax seal with the gold dagger that hung at his belt next to his sword. In revealing the letter, he took a sideways blow at his shaggy black bangs, and began to read.  
"From Richard, King of Florin and Duke of Rouching and of all the Lone  
Islands to King Conrad, who is equally blessed with land and titles.  
I send you all my best wishes and greetings. I beseech you my lord to  
come to my castle in Florin on urgent business concerning my daughter,  
the Princess Arabella Silver Moon, youngest of seven daughters and one  
son. Please come as soon as you can. May you continue in good health  
and good spirits."  
Conrad read the letter twice more and considered it for some time. He had heard King Richard of Florin, and what he had heard was not good. It was told that he had shady dealings with pirates, and strange kings from the far East. Warlords it was said. Richard could not be trusted. With this in mind, he decided to turn to his old magic mirror to see where this alleged princess was, if she existed, and if she was actually in any kind of trouble.  
He took a torch down from the cave-like wall, ran down the familiar stone stairs, and came to an intersection in the hallways. The king turned left down a flight of unlit, dust-covered stairs. They led to a room that was occupied by all his magical items. Rusty magic swords, out-dated crystal balls, dust covered magic carpets, and so on. The room also contained the only magic mirror in his castle. As he brushed the dust off the mirror, it awoke in a fit of coughing as dust and sparks flew everywhere. Conrad hastily backed up as a face appeared in the glass.  
"Hack, hack, ahem. Hello Conrad. Need me for something?" the mirror choked, but quickly regained it's composer.  
"Yes, actually. I want you to locate the Princess Arabella Silver Moon of Florin." The magic mirror chuckled. "Finally getting interested in someone, eh Conrad?" "No. Uugghh! I wish that you people would leave me alone about that. Its always 'this girl would make an excellent wife' and 'oh, she's lovely.'" he said with a dramatic hand gesture, and in a sarcastic voice, "Can I please run my own life? I mean, if it's not too much to ask?" "Oh, fine. Be the raging, set-upon, unloved, and unmarried man. See if I care. One view of a lovely princess coming up," the mirror muttered, obviously disappointed and irritated. As the colors swirled on the surface, blue, green, yellow, pink, red, a picture came into focus. A pair of piercing sea blue eyes stared out of a young girl with a lovely complexion and hair the shining color of gold. Those eyes were what caught Conrad's attention the most. Fathomless swirls of color, but full of fear as much as they were of beauty. The picture dissolved into another scene that was filled with a huge cloud of smoke with a red scaly tail and wicked looking green eyes. Then the mirror went dark.  
"Perfect," Conrad grumbled. "You always pick the exact perfect moment to break down. Now I'll have to send for the court magician. He won't be happy. Just because I don't want to marry some worthless bimbo of a princess." After waiting for ten minutes staring at the mirror after it went dead, hoping for a second glance at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, he gave up on the mirror. It obviously wasn't going to provide any other useful information at the present. But he did have a kind of lead. The tail and eyes matched the description of Talonblaze, but he fervently prayed that it wasn't.  
Conrad stomped off through his personal quarters to his balcony, the place where he always got away from his problems. He analyzed everything he had learned carefully. A new dragon was on the rampage, and none of his knights could stop him. Storming villages, lighting fires to pretty much everything, doing the things a typical dragon would do. But then there was the matter of the princess. What was her name again? Oh, Arabella Silver Moon, who was probably with that dragon. He her name out loud to himself.  
"Arabella," he savored the name and gently brushed raven-black hair away from his sea-eyes with his fingertips. He stared at the brilliant sunset; alive with vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows that surrounded the red-orange ball of light that was the sun and gave it the appearance of a halo. Then his gazed shifted lazily to the side of the sky still occupied by the moon. Conrad sighed blissfully. An array of purples, blues, and indigoes gracefully painted the night's sky, filing the air with a sort of peace. He took a second look and saw that the only thing separating the two bodies of light was the mountain of Kishnia, the moon on the left and the sun on the right, colors separated by the awesome splendor of this majestic being. Peace, he thought again. The door to the balcony opened and Jeff slid out onto the floor alongside Conrad.  
"Jeff, look at the sky. It is as if angels have been at their finest work." Jeff looked. He then turned to the king and said with a curious and yet understanding air,  
"Hey, I know you're stressed over something. It, uh, came out in our sword practice," Jeff said ruefully, massaging his sword arm. Conrad sighed and told his brother all that had been happening with the dragon, Arabella, everyone telling him to be a proper king and to get married, and the aggravating mirror that always went out right when you needed it. Jeff grinned and ragged on his older brother, saying,  
"The mirror can be fixed, the dragon can be conquered, but what of this Arabella? She sounds like a good catch, if you know what I mean. I might try out this mirror once the magician gets it fixed to get a look at her." Conrad growled playfully,  
"If you get to her before I do, I'll personally behead the both of you. Besides", he said, raising one eyebrow, "I thought you were seeing that other girl from Toroun." Jeff blushed a deep crimson. The brothers relaxed against the sun-warmed balcony and fell into silence. Though the world was at turmoil around them, here Harmony governed with her gentle hand. At the same exact moment, when peace seemed to rule the world affectionately, Conrad's eye caught the silhouette of a dragon in flight against the fiery colors of the sunset. Conrad tensed and he gripped his sword at his side.  
"Jeff, do you see that?" he said in a forced, strained voice. 


	2. Who wants to be a king, anyway?

Who wants to be a king, anyway?  
  
The king went back to his bedchamber after a wonderful dinner, but he had been too deep in thought and moody to enjoy any of it. Though he looked out the balcony again, the handiwork of the angels, and Talonblaze, were gone. After he blew out the candle, Conrad was laying in the dark with his satin cover pulled over his head, in his favorite sleeping fashion. He gritted his teeth in frustration. That whole business with Talonblaze was aggravating. It was plain that the dragon had only shown up to mock him. He sat up and slammed his fist into his bed. Frustrated, he knew that he was practically helpless to stop anything that the dragon wanted to do. He lay back with such force that the whole bed frame shook. He started to calm down as he thought about the talk with Jeff out on the balcony. It had help him decide that he was, in fact, going to Florin the next day or the day after at the latest, to the castle of King Richard to find out more about Arabella. He would still be wary of Richard of course, and if anything fishy began to happen, he was out.  
The next day was filled with excitement and activity as the servants tried to pack fast enough to suit their king's pace. Conrad rushed around yelling at unfortunate servants, asking why on earth they were packing that, and through it all, trying to get the gold circlet to stay on his head (he never wore it) as it slipped all over the place. It was obviously not made for him. The first time it fell off, it rolled down into a grate and into the dungeon and landed on one of the metal spikes on a torture rack. 'Lovely,' he thought. Since all the servants were needed for the packing for the trip to Florin, he had to go down and fetch the circlet himself (stomping all the way, of course), though he would have rather let it stay down there: he hated the thing so. The second time, it tumbled from the third floor landing and it plopped in a batch of bread dough that the cook was about to shove into the oven for the trip. Before Conrad could stop him, the dough was in the oven and the circlet was baked in the bread, though, truth to be told, he did not try very hard to get it back. After this episode, King Conrad was perfectly happy to leave the crown in the treasure room contrary to the popular opinion of the rest of the castle's occupants who stated that a king was always supposed to wear a crown. Conrad shoved the black shock of hair out of his eyes that were glinting with frustration and burning with green fire for the umpteenth time and, with sarcastic anger, stated "Listen all of you! Why should I have to wear it? The hell-wrought thing doesn't even fit. Can't I wear what I like? I mean, I'm only the king. But even that wasn't my choice! You think I wanna be king? Who wants to be a king? Well, I guess so I can say this and be obeyed. Put a cork in it!" With that, he gave a look to kill all around the great hall from the top of the stairs. The servants did put a cork in it, much to the thankfulness of the king. That night, the king went to his bed feeling tired, but satisfied, though at the same time aggravated and annoyed. He had gotten all the arrangements taken care of, and had finally bucked the whole crown issue, permanently, he hoped. But his plans had been delayed another day. And Talonblaze was still on the loose after killing another of his knights and eating the chickens of twenty farms. 'Tomorrow,' he thought to himself laying flat on his back and staring up into the darkness, 'things will really start happening.' He had no idea. Two hours before dawn, Conrad awoke with a start and leaped out of bed. This day, he would get out of this stuffy castle. He quickly realized that none of his servants were awake. He ran about the castle kicking and berating sleeping forms until they realized they were subject to their king's wrath. At dawn, after threatening to behead and murder most of his castle servants for numerous reasons, Conrad was galloping along the dusty path on his horse of chestnut brown. He loved the sensation of flying through the air with his horse's jet-black mane and tail whipping in the wind. He also loved riding because his hair didn't get in the way of his vision. He had named his mare Lightning, because she had been born during the biggest storm of his time. A monstrous bolt of lightning struck one of his castle turrets in the gale. The turret still hadn't been fixed, giving his castle a sort of lopsided, roguish look, much like himself, in a way. When the sun was at it's zenith, Conrad called a stop for lunch next to a small brook at the fringe of a forest. As he sat on a rock covered in soft moss munching a small meat pie, he happened to notice the dark, heavy, thick looking storm clouds rolling in from the north. He called to his servants, "Pack up, gents! There's going to be a storm. I know of a house in the forest where we can find shelter. Follow!"  
As Conrad and his band of men made for the trees, rain poured in torrents and a resounding clap of thunder filled the air. The biggest bolt of lightning, only second to the one at Lightning's birth, split the air and hit a tree not ten feet from where Conrad was. He felt his hair at the nape of his neck prickle as Lightning reared and screamed in terror. Conrad managed to stay on his horse. He didn't even have time to be afraid as he issued orders to move into the safety of the trees. Remembering the location of the empty house, he directed his men there.  
They huddled in the abandoned house. The king counted his men, and, realizing that all were present, Unrolled his blankets and stretched out on the floor, falling asleep almost immediately. Sometime during the night, a tremendous shock of thunder shook the house to its very foundations. Conrad and Jeff jerked awake. They stared at each other through the dark, each remembering the many times that they, as young boys, crawled into their parents bed during nights of freakish storms. But now was long past from the time that their father had been King of Shara and not Conrad. A formidably long time. Their father was dead, and mother too, and neither of them wanted to bring that painful history to the present day. They lay back, each of them hoping that the morning would be better than this fearful night was.  
Dawn awoke the travelers, and after a short breakfast, they resumed their trip to Florin. It was a more agreeable journey through grassland, except for the threat of the dragon, but they were making good time. At dusk they arrived at the castle of Florin where King Richard lived. Conrad braced himself for whatever met them at Richard's castle.  
As King Conrad and his men rode up to King Richard's castle, a rude, impudent voice shouted out, "Who goes there?" Conrad hollered back, "Only King Conrad, of Shara, by the Great Mountains, unless it puts you out." "Enter, my lord," replied the voice with a bit more respect, but not much. As the giant drawbridge lowered, Conrad and his men rode across into the cobblestoned, respectable courtyard of Richard. Conrad found himself staring into a well-tended herb garden, and the main doors to a well-sized castle. Then he saw King Richard himself walking quickly out to greet him. "Ah, King Conrad. A pleasure to see you after so long! Come, come into my private quarters so we can discuss our matters in secrecy. I'm sorry I can't provide any better service for you." Then, in a whisper,  
"I'll explain everything to you inside." Then Richard began a quick march toward his fine castle. Conrad leaned over to Jeff and said, "We've never met him before." When they got inside, Richard told Conrad to dismiss his private bodyguard of knights, but Conrad insisted upon taking Jeffery with him, though. Richard relented with a sigh. He then turned down a stairwell that was covered in dust and cobwebs. Conrad felt at home.  
They arrived in King Richard's private sitting room, and he bid them sit down in two cushioned chairs, which they did gladly. Then he cut to the chase.  
"Now, Conrad, I have had trust and alliance with you before. I assume that we are still in agreement in this?" Conrad nodded, and crossed his legs and waited for him to continue. "As you know, this problem is concerning my daughter, Arabella. She is my most favored daughter and if she died, I would- well, I couldn't live anymore. I presume that you know what I mean when I say that." "Yes," Conrad said, gazing briefly at Jeff, who returned the glance, "I do actually." If King Richard noticed he gave no indication of it. The king sighed. "If I wasn't aging, I would go after her and slay the evil being holding her, threatening to kill her, my beloved," he moaned, almost to himself. Jeffery leaned forward in his chair, captivated. "My lord," Jeffery said with interest, "What beast has your daughter in its grasp?" The old king looked up. "Why a dragon! The most evil of beasts, and this is the most wicked of all. He has trapped her in a cave, and is refusing to let her out forever!" Conrad gave an involuntary gasp, which caused the king and Jeffery to look at him with curiosity.  
"I will go and save her. My king, where is this foul beast residing?" "I'm not sure, but-" Just then a tremendous crash came from the kitchens, and a resounding roar burst from above, accompanied by a giant tail crashing through the roof of Richard's sitting room. Conrad stared at the hole in the roof for a moment, and then without hesitation, jumped up onto the roof. He saw a flying form a ways off, and knew what it was. The dragon. It circled back as Jeff and the king called up to him, but he was concentrating too hard to hear them. He quickly reached for the long piece of rope that hung at his belt. He grasped one end of it and waited tensely for the dragon to fly by again. Fifty feet away, twenty, ten, now! Conrad swung the rope around one of the colossal hind feet of the beast and hung on for dear life. He realize that his brother was right along side him on the opposite hind foot yelling and clinging to his own rope like a monkey. Conrad grinned and shook his head. Little brothers, never wanting out miss out on a good fight. 


	3. Landings, plans, and dragons

Landings, plans, and dragons  
  
The dragon flew on long into the night. Conrad had long sense made a net out of his rope and was resting comfortably in the dragon's grasp, as was Jeff. Finally, the dragon started to swoop lower to the ground. "Jeff! Wake up. We're about to land." Jeff woke with a start and his rope broke away, ripped against Talonblaze's, well, talon, and he tumbled to the ground. "Good plan, Jeff," Conrad said out loud. He let go of his rope and he descended with a few quick somersaults, and landed on his feet in a field of tall grass. Jeffery, who had not had time to think of a better way to land, groaned and rolled over in the wet grass. "Conrad, I hope that's you." "Of course it's me, who else would it be," Conrad said, pulling his bruised brother off the grass. "Good point. Where do we go now?" Jeff said, with a quick brush over his ruined grass stained clothes. He also examined his tattered cloak, which had been caught on a thorn bush. "We rest here until morning, and then we go to that cave over there, a bit to your left, where the dragon is keeping Arabella. In the morning, we spy around and figure out a way to rescue the princess." They pulled their cloaks over themselves, and fell asleep almost immediately. Jeff dreamed about a feather bed. Conrad dreamed of the beautiful princess, and wondered how it would feel to kiss her perfect lips. As the first bird began to sing, the king arose with a start and wondered where on earth he was. Then he remembered, and quickly gave Jeffery the earthquake treatment. Jeff jumped up and reached for the sword that wasn't there. "What, Conrad! We haven't got our swords with us." "I know, Jeff," Conrad said brushing the black hair out of his vision. "When we leaped on the dragon, one of the claws must've shaved off our belts, along with our swords and scabbards. We'll have to find some other weapons to defeat the dragon with. Who needs swords anyway? It's too classic. Let's split up and find some things that we can use. We'll meet back here in one hour."  
In one hour, both of them were back, but not very successful. Jeff had found an empty bucket and a beach full of sand, and Conrad found a rather large rock and a coil of rope outside the dragon's cave. Conrad also remembered that Jeff could do very believable voice imitations. Then Conrad told his brother his plans for the next day. "Its exciting and all that, but I have the uncanny feeling that you've got the hero's role and I'm just the extra on standby." Conrad smiled, and with a devil-may-care grin said, "Oh, I don't know."  
At dawn the next morning, while Jeff was still asleep, Conrad slipped out of their camp. The fire had burned down to embers, and was giving off a faint glow in the early gray morning light. The long grass around the fire rustled slightly as Conrad prowled through it toward the entrance to the dragon's cave. He froze when the dragon suddenly came out of the cave, sniffed the air, and started scanning the long grass as if looking for something. 'Or someone.' Conrad resumed his crawling more quietly than before, but had his eyes on the dragon, not the small inclination before him. His knee slipped and he fell flat on his face. It was a small noise, but that was enough. The dragon moved abruptly and Conrad suddenly found himself staring up into the green metallic eyes of a huge red scaly face, trapped by a talon that was longer his leg. As the smoke from the beast's nostrils filled the air, he started to lose conciseness. His last thought was, 'Every thing is going according to plan!' Then everything went black 


	4. A new kind of princess

A new kind of princess  
  
When the king awoke and opened his eyes, he saw: a blur of colors. Finally, when he got his eyes to focus, he realized were he was and why he was there. The beautiful creature bending at her slender waist over him and staring at him with concerned ocean-blue eyes, was Princess Arabella Silver Moon. Conrad gazed up at her for a while, and then said, "I'm sorry I can't bow to you, your majesty, but my legs won't work at the moment." "I understand entirely-what was your name, sir? "Conrad, King Conrad of Shara by the Great Mountains at your service, Princess." "Oh! Your highness! I did not know of you but through my father's talking," Arabella said falling to the floor. Conrad finally knew that his legs would hold him, got up stiffly and pulled Arabella to her feet. They gazed into each other's eyes. Something happened to them as blue met green. They sat down on the rock ledge that served as a bed, and Conrad told her why he had come and the plan that he had concocted. The talk was interrupted by pale spurt of light that Conrad took to be flames and a scratch of claws on rock from the passageway that connected to the room that they were in. The princess Silver Moon glared. "The dragon! I had no idea that he was coming back so quickly. I have a sword hidden in my room, but Talonblaze is in between my quarters and the exit to the cave right now. We can't get out that way. But I-"  
"The plan will work without a sword. Now, before the dragon, Talonblaze, you called him, comes in here and finds you, hide between these two ledges and stay there until I come to get you. I'll go and alert my brother who is waiting outside to begin the plan I told you." "Why do I have to stay here? It is me he wants, anyway, and I will not be left behind like some useless child! I should be the bait. He barely knows you exist." "Well, you don't really have to stay here, but how do you plan to get out of this cave? Didn't you say that the exit to the caves are being guarded by Talonblaze?" "I know of a better way. I was planning to escape out it today. I was about to tell you, but I was interrupted. Follow me," she said with confidence. Conrad blushed as she pulled on a rock in the wall. It came loose and a rumbling filled the small cavern. Then, a doorway appeared out of the stone and swung open.  
As Arabella led him through the door, Conrad couldn't help thinking that she was smarter than your average princess. Most princesses would simply scream at the mention of being caught by a dragon, or faint dead away at the mere hinting at being a dragon's bait. On the other side of the doorway Conrad saw his camp and Jeff waiting for him there. Conrad gave a blow to the ivory, sapphire inlaid whistle that was magically spelled so that only Jeff could hear it. Jeff had one that was identical, except that the stones in the whistle were rubies of the purist blood red instead of sapphire, around his neck held by a worn leather thong. His brother heard it. Jeff then proceeded to put out the campfire, which signaled that all was in place. "Come on, princess. That was the signal." Arabella looked confused. "What was all that with the whistle?" she asked, examining the expensive thing carefully. "Well," said Conrad, rolling the cylinder-shaped whistle between his thumb and forefinger. "It was a present from the court magician, Tzirincara, on our sixteenth birthday. It is enchanted so that no one else can hear it when it is blown. I think that it only works with twins, or triplets, mostly. Maybe with husband and wife," Conrad said with a meaningful glance at Arabella, who, if she saw the look, ignored it. "Yes, I know about the link between twins. So," she said, glancing at Jeff, who was waiting. "When do we get on with the plan?" "After dark," Conrad said with a wicked glint in his eye. "When Talonblaze sleeps." 


	5. It's all fun and games

It's all fun and games . . .  
  
A few hours after sunset, Arabella slipped back inside to make sure that the dragon actually slept. She returned with a smile and a bouncy disposition. "He sleeps, my king. What would you have me do?" she said with a flourishing curtsy. "Assume your position, princess, and I will signal my lazy brother to do the same," Conrad said with a chuckle. He took a deep breath and blew as hard as he could in the direction of the outlined shadowed form of his twin. Jeff jumped up with a start and saluted him quickly and a bit sleepily. Conrad nodded to Jeff, who dashed immediately to a rock wall and began climbing quickly up to the top. Arabella stared at the whole episode in astonishment. "You really have your signals down, don't you? Do both of you climb as well as Jeff does?" "Oh, I'm the one who taught him all he knows," Conrad said with a careless air. "Now, let's get you ready to be the bait. Remember what you are supposed to do." They both ran over to the side of the mountain where Jeff had climbed, and Conrad set her in the net (made of the rope they had found) that Jeff was waiting to hoist up the side of the mountain. "All right Jeff! Haul away. Have a good ride, Arabella. Don't get eaten!" "Don't worry, I won't. Don't you get eaten either, Conrad." Then, in his ear, "I love you!" Conrad gazed up at Princess Silver Moon as she was elevated up the side of the steep mountain Astonishment and love filled his eyes as he prayed to God that his plan would work, and that Arabella would not be seriously hurt or eaten, for that matter. Jeff gave a breath of air to the whistle, and Conrad knew it was time. Though it was true that his part in the plan was more dangerous than that of Jeff or Arabella, Conrad did think about it. He sneaked, very quietly even though the snoring of the great dragon, Talonblaze, filled the air making it almost impossible to hear what you were thinking, up to the entrance to the cave. He could hear a hissing and boiling as the hot breath of Talonblaze hit water in mid drop to the cavern floor from the awesome stalactites. Finally he reached the end of the twitching, scale covered tail. One more prayer for safety, and King Conrad stepped inside the cave. It was dark and damp. The mud on the floor sucked on his leather boots as he walked along beside the rock wall. 'I'm still walking next to the tail,' he thought uneasily after ten minutes of trudging along through the thick mud. He reached the back legs, which were as larger than any drawbridge ever hewn of wood. Then Conrad pulled the rope hanging from the ceiling and a rock, more of a boulder, fell from a shelf jutting out from the side of the rock wall. It landed with a thump on the beast's head. Talonblaze awoke in a fury hotter than his fire. He looked around and saw a man standing in front of him. Shaking his head with astonishment, the monster looked closer. That man was trying to get his attention. A puny little human was attempting to get his, the Great Talonblaze's attention! He snorted a small puff of smoke and lurched to his feet. Pounding after the man, he wondered if this could all be a plot to get him away from the cave so that the man could get his princess. But no, that was to complicated for a man to figure out. 


	6. Until someone dies?

Until someone . . . dies?  
  
Conrad panted as he ran faster than ever, and he had good reason to. If a gargantuan, mammoth, colossal dragon was chasing you at full speed, you would run fast too. As he reached the cliff, Talonblaze was almost upon him. He reached his goal, and none too soon. He threw himself into the small tunnel in the side of the rock face that led nearly straight up. Conrad went over the rest of the plan mentally as he climbed. The next part of it called for him to find the small cave at the base of the cliff, and climb up the inside of it to meet Jeff at the top, and, hopefully, Arabella. While he was climbing, Jeff was supposed to be catching the dragon's eyes with the princess in the net. When the dragon tried to fly up to rip the princess out of the net, Conrad should already be at the top of the mountain and he and Jeff would both pull the princess up, and throw the bucket of sand into the dragon's eyes. The dragon should be so high up and would be so surprised that it would crash to its death. As Conrad climbed at a breakneck pace, he hoped that it would work. He could hear the dragon's take off, for a large whoosh of air and sand flew up the tunnel after him, and climbed all the faster for the top that was barely visible through the gloom of the small cave. As he neared the top, he thought that this plan would be easier than he first imagined. Then he got stuck. "Jeff, Jeff!" he called after a few seconds of frantic trying to get loose. "I'm stuck!" Jeff's face peered down and saw Conrad's dilemma. "Here, grab this." He lowered a part of the rope that had been left over from the net. Conrad grabbed it and could feel his twin's pull. After a few frantic seconds of feeling like he would be squeezed to a bloody pulp, all at once, he popped out of the hole, and landed on top of Jeff, who was still pulling at the time. Conrad scrambled to a standing position, and called to the mass and rope. "Come on Jeff. No time for playing," he said blithely as he pulled on an arm that was protruding out of the coils of rope. He succeeded in pulling his sibling out, and together they pulled Arabella over the edge of the rock face. So in the end, everyone had had his or her own rightful pull.  
Sub-consciously, though, both Conrad and Jeff thought themselves invincible. They were after all, kings and sons of kings. Games like this had been played on a regular schedule at the castle, though maybe not with death on the line. Death was never even considered. This was all just another game to them, and the danger and the fear were the thrill of the hunt. That was about to change for them. The dragon appeared. He was silhouetted by the rising of the sun in a burst of orange and red. A huge wind was being whipped into life from the flapping of the monstrous wings as the brothers stared. Jeff broke the trance. "Now," yelled Jeff, and Conrad flung the sand into the oncoming dragon's eyes. Talonblaze immediately put his claws to his eyes in an attempt to clear them, a remarkably human gesture. The wind stopped with the great wings, and when Talonblaze realized what was going to happen, he swiped his tail across the gray rock ground, knocking Conrad off the cliff. As he fell, he heard the frenzied voices of Arabella and of Jeff, who, he thought, he would never see again. Never talk to Arabella any more, never beat Jeff at the sword again. He forgot about all of that. All he knew now was the falling form of the dragon, and then a solid thud. He heard the sound of thundering hoof-beats, as if hundreds of horses were coming at him. He felt faintly worried, and then the world plunged into darkness 


End file.
